Reinforced girdle



March 1o, 1970 l.. STRELL 3,499,451

REINFORCED GIRDLE Filed June 12, 1967 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 'O3,499,451 REINFORCED GIRDLE Leo Strell, Forest Hills, N.Y., assignor toI. B. Kleinert Rubber Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New YorkFiled June 12, 1967, Ser. No. 645,112 Int. Cl. A41c 1/00; A61f 5/37 U.S.Cl. 12S- 539 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A girdle having a basicbody-holding sheath and two pairs of reinforcing auxiliary panels, oneof said pairs being partially overlapped at the abdominal area andextending around the thighs to the lower edge of the rear of the basicbody sheath and the second pair abutting each other at a seam in theback of the garment and extending around the thighs to the lower frontedge of the sheath.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present inventionrelates to a foundation garment which provides firm support for theabdomen, thighs and back while retaining its position on the ligureduring movement.

Description of the prior art A girdle must provide firm support forparticular locations on the gure to ensure the desired cosmetic effect.Three principal locations requiring such support are the abdomen, thighsand lower back. In the past, doublepanel girdles have 'been used toprovide the needed support in the locations required, these garmentshowever have tended to be expensive in terms of excess material used.Further, prior art girdles have also increased the discomfort of thewearer by adding additional layers of material to the garment, resultingin a warmer garment and more weight than necessary to produce thedesired effect.

The prior girdles have generally been provided with double-layerconstruction at particular stress points such as theabdomen and otherlocations on the garment. The prior art girdles have, however, failed tointegrate the use of material in the various high stress areas toprovide interaction between the supporting elements. Lack of suchinteraction results in the garment tending to ride up on the figure whenmovement of the body occurs. In addition the restraining efliciency ofthe extra material is reduced due to the fact that the double layer isnot secured in a manner to effectively transmit stress in the criticalareas, Further, the bulk of such garments is unnecessarily great since alarge segment of the second layer fails to contribute to the desiredeffect.

SUMMARY The girdle of this application eliminates the disadvantages ofthe prior art girdles and has several additional advantages.Accordingly, the girdle is formed of a basic body surrounding sheathmade of a suitable elastic material. superimposed on the basic sheathare two pairs of reinforcing elements, also made of elastic material.

One pair of reinforcing elements is overlapped at the abdomen. Thereinforcing elements are of sufiicient strength to restrain the centralportion of the abdomen and results in a triple thickness of elasticmaterial at a place of extreme requirement for support.

The second pair of reinforcing elements abut each other at a seamlocated in the rear of the garment. This pair of elements is sized toprovide additional support for the 3,499,451 Patented Mar. 10, 1970lower back area with a minimum of material in nonstress locations.

Each of the overlapping reinforcing elements, front and rear, furthercontain an extended arm-like portion which is curved around the body inthe area of the thighs and is ultimately terminated at the lower edge ofthe garment above the garter supports on the opposite side of thegarment from the main portion of the element. The thigh surroundingportions provide support against bulging thighs and further add supportto the garment at the garter supports preventing sag of the girdle inthis area.

The provision, in my girdle, of portions of the reinforcing elementscircling the thighs greatly aids the interaction between the abdominaland back reinforcing sections and the thigh supporting sections. Thefour arms act together so that when the body is twisted the arm-likeelements supporting the thighs tend to assistthe abdominal and backreinforcing elements, thereby providing extra support. Similarly, duringa forward bending movement at the waist the garment effectivelyrestrains the abdomen since the rearwardly extending arm-like elementsof the abdominal reinforcing elements assist the abdominal reinforcingelements in a manner to provide additional support. In addition, theback of the garment is restrained from riding up during forward bendingdue to the presence and action of the two rear areas.

The interrelationship between the actions of the various sections of theimproved girdle provides support for the abdomen, back and thighs aswell as retaining the shape of the garment when used to supportstockings. The effect of the interaction far exceeds the effect of theindividual elements acting along and produces a lightweight garment ofhigh restraining characteristics.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be explained in greaterdetail below and in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the girdle of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the girdle of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side View of the girdle of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the girdleof the invention consists of a main ibody encircling sheath 10 which ismade of a suitable elastic material such as one of the variety ofartificial fabrics currently available. The main body sheath 10 isprovided with a configuration which tends to constrain the lower portionof the torso and give a pleasing `configuration to the shape of thebody. Sheath 10 has a reinforced opening 11 at the upper end forlocation at the waist. The reinforcement 11 may consist of an elasticband sewn to the entire edge. A larger dimension across the mid-portion12 is provided for placement over the buttocks and abdomen and anarrower reinforced opening 13 at the bottom is provided to encircle thethighs. The main ibody sheath 10 may be a singlemolded latex piece ormay be composed of several panels sewn together along their edges inconventionally known ways. In the embodiment illustrated a single pieceof elastic material suitably woven is sewn together along a seam 29vertically located in the back of the garment.

The front reinforcing elements 14 and 15 are attached by stitching 16along their periphery to the main body sheath 10 as shown in FIG. l. Thetwo elements 14 and 15 are identical to each other and are made of anelastic material that may or may not be the same material as used forbody sheath 10. Each of the elements has a large abdominal supportingsection 17 and 18 which is overlapped with the complementary portion ofits opposite member and sewn together to provide increased support atthe abdomen. By sewing the units together in the manner shown, threelayers of elastic material are overlapped providing rm uplifting supportfor the abdomen and providing more restraint in the local-area thanwould be present in the absence of the reinforcing elements.

Elements 14 and 15 are further provided with extending arm portions 19and 20 which are integral with sections 17 and 18 and extend from theabdomen across the thigh area. Arms 19 and 20 both provide rm supportfor the included thigh area and reduce the tendency toward lbulging thatoccurs in the lower thigh area. Arms 19 and 20 curve downwardly aroundthe thighs and are anchored by sewing at the rear lower edge of thegirdle above garters 21 and 22, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 2, two supporting panels 23 and 24 are sewn to themain sheath to provide support for the lower back area. The two panelsare separate but abut each other at rear seam 29. Stitching 16 aroundtheir entire periphery unites the panels to the main sheath 10 so as toprovide an integral structure capable of providing support to the bodywhere needed.

Although panels 23 and 24 are shown as a pair of separate units they canbe formed as a single panel in the event that the main body sheath is ofthe molded or dipped latex type. It has been found, however, that whenthe main sheath is of a Woven fabric and requires a seam 29, it isdesirable to assemble the garment using a pair of panels 23 and 24 sothat the garment can be completed in a at condition with the exceptionof seam 29.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the rear panels 23 and 24 is also providedwith an extending arm and 26 which circles the thighs and providessupport for the thigh area. Each of the arms 25 and 26 is terminated atthe lower front edge of the garment above garters 27 and 28.

The attachment of the reinforcing elements to the body Sheath 10 in themanner shown produces a combined eifect that exceeds the effect of theindividual elements. The reinforcing elements provide localizedresistance to bulging at the abdomen while the wearer is in a verticalposition. When the wearer twists from side to side, arms 19, 20, 25 and26 restrain the side bulging of the thighs since the arms are anchoredto the overlapping abdominal panels 17 and 18 and the secured rearpanels 23 and 24 and a triple thickness of material is present on boththighs. Further, when the wearer bends forward, arms 19 and 20 act torestrain the thighs and in addition support the abdominal supportingpanels 17 and 18.

Arms 19, 20, 25 and 26 further reduce or eliminate sag in the garmentcaused by stress on the garters 21, 22, 27 and 28 located at the bottomedge of the garment. The garters are located directly below the ends ofarms 19, 20, 25 and 26 and are therefore subjected to double Supportrather than the single support of the main body sheath 10.

It is to be understood that the embodiment described herein is merely byway of illustration and that many modifications can be made in the meansfor attaching the elements to the body such as by fusing artificialfibers to each other. Further, the specific location of the supportelements may be varied, depending on the dimensions and type of basicbody sheath. It is also to be understood that while a conventionalgirdle is described herein the invention is also adaptable to thepanty-type girdle.

What is claimed is:

1. A foundation garment comprising in combination a main body encirclingand restraining portion and a plurality of supplementary supportingelements attached to said main body encircling portion, each of saidsupplementary supporting elements having an enlarged portion attached tothe main body portion in an area of high stress, said enlarged portionsof at least two of said supplementary supporting members partiallyoverlap each other in the abdominal area and are attached to each otherand to said main body encircling and restraining portion 4 and each ofsaid supplementary supporting elements having at least one integralportion extending from said enlarged portion around the side of saidgarment in the thigh area to the opposite side of said garment.

2. A foundation garment according to claim 1, further comprising incombination garters attached to the lower edge of the main bodyencircling portion, wherein the integral portions extending from theenlarged p0rtion of each of said supplementary supporting elementsterminate above the garters to thereby support said garters andreinforce said main body encircling portion when said garters are inuse.

3. A foundation garment according to claim 1 wherein the enlargedportion of at least one of said plurality of supporting members islocated in the rear of the garment to provided support for the lowerback area.

4. A foundation garment according to claim 1 wherein at least two ofsaid supporting members are located in the rear of the garment tosupport the lower back area and the integral portion extending from saidenlarged l portions of each of said supplementary supporting membersacross each other in the thigh area to provide additional support forthe thighs.

5. A foundation garment comprising in combination a main body encirclingand restraining portion and a plurality of supplementary supportingelements attached to said main body encircling portion, each of saidsupplementary supporting elements having an enlarged portion attached tothe main body portion in an area of high stress and each of saidsupplementary supporting elements having at least one integral portionextending from said enlarged portion around the side of said garment inthe thigh area to the opposite side of said garment, and gartersattached to the lower edge of the main body encircling portion, whereinsaid integral portion extending from said enlarged portion of each ofsaid supplementary supporting elements terminates above the garters tothereby support said garters and reinforce said main body encirclingportion when said garters are in use.

6. A foundation garment according to claim 5 wherein the enlargedportion of at least two of the supporting members overlap each other inthe abdominal area and are attached to each other and at least two ofthe supporting members are located in the rear of the garment to supportthe lower back area and the integral portion extending from saidenlarged portions of each of said supplementary supporting members crosseach other in the thigh area to provide additional support for thethighs.-

7. A foundation garment comprising in combination a main body encirclingand restraining portion and a plurality of supplemental Supportingelements attached to said main body each of said supplementarysupporting elements having an enlarged portion attached to the main bodyportion in an area of high stress and each of said supplementaryelements having at least one integral portion extending from saidenlarged portion around the side of said garment in the thigh area tothe opposite side of said garment, at least two of said supportingmembers being located in the rear of the garment to support the lowerback area and said integral portion of said supporting members locatedin the rear of said garment intersecting with an integral portion fromanother supplementary supporting member in the thigh area to provideadditional support for the thighs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,872,927 2/ 1959 Erte'sek12S-548 3,133,541 5/1964 Lewis et al. 12S-540 3,170,466 2/ 1965 Gingras128-528 3,339,554 9/1967 Nobbs 128--548 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary ExaminerU.S. Cl.` X.R. 128--546

